


Gēmu wa Hitobito ga Yonaka ni Asobu : "Games People Play in the Middle of the Night"

by bittenfeld



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Bloody Kisses, Brutality, Captivity, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, M/M, Male Slash, Non-Consensual Oral Sex, Nudity, Oral Sex, Rape, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sexual Violence, Submission, Threats, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Torment, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-01-16 09:05:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12339645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittenfeld/pseuds/bittenfeld
Summary: Basco loves driving Marvelous to the edge of rage.Marvelous has to get his imprisoned crew back from Basco - no matter how dear and how cruel the cost to himself.New - chapter 8:  Marvelous shakes his head. Moisture wells up in dark eyes. “I just want to forget… just want to forget all about him…” His voice breaks.Reaching up a hand to an abrased cheek, Joe turns his captain’s face toward him. “I’ll help you forget. I’m here now, and I’m not going to leave.” And he seals that promise with a long deep kiss.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvelous hasn’t had the nightmares for quite a while, but now they are back in full detail. He can’t forget the violation of Basco’s touch on him… and in him. He never will.

Marvelous hates to hear this over his Mobilate.  Hates to hear Basco’s smiling taunting voice.  Hates to hear the pain and cries of his crewmates.  Hates to know that there is nothing he can do to protect them, so far away.

“Don’t hurt my crew,” he mutters tightly, even while realizing the fruitlessness of those words.  Basco will do whatever he wants to them, and they both know that Marvelous has no ability to back those words up.  Basco likes to taunt him, likes to throw his helplessness in his face.

 “Now, who said anything about hurting them?” Basco’s friendly voice retorts lightly.  “I’m just going to make sure they all have a memorable time today – especially Joe-chan.  I’ll make it a time that he’ll remember forever.  Just like you still remember all our little trysts, don’t you, Marvy-chan?  Yes, I’m sure you do.”

“Don’t touch him.”

“Oh, you want me all to yourself, is that it?  You don’t want to share me with Joe-chan?  Well, you’re not here and he is.  And you can’t expect me to wait around now, can you?  You know I was never patient.  Certainly never patient with you.”

“If you touch him, I’ll kill you.”  It’s not an idle threat, but it’s not one Marvelous can do anything about now, and they both know that too.

“Oh, Marvy-chan, what’s this – the tenth, seventeenth, twentieth time, you’ve made that promise?  I haven’t seen any results yet.  So how is this time any different?”

Marvelous hasn’t had the nightmares for quite a while, but now they are back in full detail.  He can’t forget the violation of Basco’s touch on him… and in him.  He never will.

“Marvy-chan, Marvy-chan…” – and Marvelous can’t get over just how much he hates the intimate familiarity of that nickname – “I know you hate me for lying to you and betraying you when you thought we were friends.  I know you loved me.” – and Marvelous knows he will never get over the shame of that either – “But the truth is I loved you too.  Maybe I lied to you about all the rest, but I really did love you.  Well, at least I loved the way I could get you down on your knees and make you whimper and beg for me… and spread your legs for me…”

“Shut UP!!”  Marvelous is trembling with suppressed fury.

“Ohh, what’s the matter?” Basco coos.  “You don’t want your friends to hear what a little slut you were for me?  How you were so happy to let me do anything I wanted to you, or you do anything I wanted of you? Remember how I could get you to…”

“Basco, shut the FUCK UP!!”  Roughly Marvelous snaps the changer closed, slicing Basco’s words off in mid-sentence, and hurls it across the room to crack against the column behind his command chair.  If only he could do the same to his tormentor.  In helpless rage he reaches up both hands to clutch two fistfuls of hair as if he wants to rip it out by the roots, striding, pacing in the claustrophobic confines of the room, throwing aside anything in his way.

Until finally he stops, stands still, and screams his helplessness to the universe.

 _to be continued_ …

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvelous has to get his imprisoned crew back from Basco - no matter how dear and how cruel the cost to himself.
> 
> New - Chapter 2: “Basco…” Marvelous’s teeth clench to force down the fury building up again. It shouldn’t be so hard to get the words out. No harder than willingly offering to plunge himself back into the black nightmare from which he had escaped but a few short years ago. “I have a bargain to make with you – if for once in your goddamn life you can be trusted to give your word honestly.”  
> “Oh?” Interest rises in Basco’s tone. “Please, I’m quite eager to hear…"

He wishes his heart wasn’t pounding, he wishes his body wasn’t shaking.

A captain’s ultimate responsibility is to protect his crew – and now there is only one way to accomplish that.  Only one solution to Basco’s extortion.  Old fears, old nightmares, have no place here – if only he could convince his quivering hands. 

Rising from his chair, after an agonizing eternity of meditation, he looks around for his Mobilate.  He snatches it up from beneath the little side table, where it carelessly tumbled when he hurled it away.  Snapping it open, he presses the communicator button, then keys in the phone code he wishes he never had to use again.  He prays his voice won’t give away his trembling.

“Marvy-chan!” Basco’s cheerful greeting grates in his ear.  “How nice to hear from you twice in one day!  I hope you’ve had a nice relaxing afternoon.  Your friends and I have had quite an informative time.  For instance, did you know that your dear Hakase-chan is quite sensitive behind both ears and down the nape of his neck?  He squirms quite nicely when I drag my fingernails along there.”

“Basco…”  Marvelous’s teeth clench to force down the rage building up again.  He has to stay in full control to get through this.  Blind fury won’t help anything now.

“… And I’m sure you’ve often wanted to shut Gai-chan’s chattery mouth – well, I can tell you, a few sharp slaps across the face do the job quite effectively.  He’s been quiet ever since – unfortunately he’s got quite a bloody nose now, it might be broken, but oh well, that couldn’t be helped.  Now it’s just a matter of trying to shut up your pretty Luka-hime – for such a lovely lady, I must say, her language puts every other pirate I’ve ever heard to shame.”

“Basco, it’s you I want to shut up,” Marvelous snaps tautly.  “I have a bargain to make with you – if for once in your goddamn life you can be trusted to give your word honestly.”

“Oh?”  Interest rises in Basco’s tone.  “Please, I’m quite eager to hear… then I’ll give you my answer.”

 “Forget about the Greatest Treasure.  Let my crew go, leave them be on their quest.”

“Well, it must be something quite valuable you’re offering, to ask for so much in compensation,” the other man surmises.  “Also it’s interesting you say ‘their quest’, not ‘our quest’.

Marvelous reaches a hand to press his forehead.  It shouldn’t be so hard to get the words out.  No harder than willingly offering to plunge himself back into the black nightmare from which he had escaped but a few short years ago.  “I’m offering myself.  You say you want me so badly.  I’ll surrender to you.  Let them go, let the Treasure go, and you can have me for as long as you want.”  He knows his voice is trembling, but there’s really no way to stop it.  “You can do whatever you want with me,” he promises, “and I won’t oppose you anymore.”

In the background he can hear the protests of his crew.  Don’s voice breaks through, “Captain, no!”  Luka shrieks something unintelligible, but no doubt quite pithy.

“Why, Marvy-chan, that’s a rich deal indeed.  And surely you must know how much I appreciate it.”  A throaty sensual richness warms the privateer’s voice.  “In fact, it’s such a tantalizing offer, that with anything else at stake, I’d be tempted to accept.”

“What do you mean?”  Taken off-guard, the trembling rises in Marvelous’s taut body.  He hadn’t considered Basco balking.  Even when he shamed himself in front of the man, Basco could still throw him off balance.

“I admit, you’re almost worth as much as the Greatest Treasure,” Basco considers.  “But not quite.  You see I want that Treasure as much as you do.  Well, even more, because I don’t have friends that I would risk everything for, and you do.  That’s your handicap.  And another thing, I’d get bored very quickly with you if you never challenged me anymore.  Oh for now, sure, I want to hear you whimper and beg for me and humiliate yourself in front of me.  But to keep it up?  To never challenge me again?  Why I’d get so tired of you, I’d soon throw you out on the trash heap.  I want you to stand up to me.  I like the games we play – don’t you?”

Rage is building up in Marvelous’s chest.  He won’t be able to fight it down much longer.  It’s taken all his control to last this long.  “Then what do you want from me right now, to get my crew back?” he mutters through gritted teeth.

“Well, I’ve already told you:  the Ranger Keys, the Galleon, and Navi.  However, you’re obviously not willing to part with all of that just yet.  But I tell you what,” Basco suggests in that same light, maddening tone.  “Your counter-offer was so tempting, and I do realize how difficult it was for you to make it, and it’s certainly not your fault that I turned it down.  So I’m willing to make a partial deal.  Let’s meet in the quarry.  I’ll bring your people.”

“What deal?”

“That you’ll give yourself to me, just for now.  For anything I want to do to you – just like you said.  And then you’ll be free to leave, with your crew.  You know I can always catch them again later any time I want, and then you’ll have to pay my full demand to get them back.  But this time I’m willing to play your game and let them go.  For you.  For old times’ sake.  How does that sound, Marvy-chan?  Do we have a deal?”

“Is this another lie of yours?”

“Just come.  In an hour.  We’ll work out the details then.”

* * * * *

Basco is already waiting when Marvelous disembarks.  True to his word, Joe and the others wait with him, sitting on the ground behind their captor.  Sally, the large anthropoid monkey and Basco’s shipmate, crouches between Basco and his hostages.  Fifty feet above them side by side, the two ships, the Gokai Galleon and the Free Joker, hang in the air, the Galleon anchored in the rocky detritus of the quarry and the Joker hovering beside it.  Hot exhaust from the idling engines kicks up little dust-devils that dance around the group on the ground.

Marvelous notes that their ankles are hobbled with chains; otherwise they are unbound – and Marvelous considers that could be to give them the illusion that they might be able to escape or fight.  Of course if they try, Basco will just use that as an excuse to beat them brutally down.

At least Hakase and the girls don’t look too badly off, thank god, scuffed up and dirt-smudged, but otherwise relatively unharmed.  Joe is bruised and scraped up, and there’s a darkness in his eyes that Marvelous doesn’t like the look of.

But Gai is the worst – his face puffy, teary eyes and broken nose black-and-blue and swollen, dried blood crusted on his nose and mouth.   His breath heaves ragged and noisily, and he looks mostly out of it.  Weakly he’s slumped against Hakase, who holds a supportive, comforting arm around him.  More than just slapping him around, as Basco had implied, obviously he had worked the younger man over roughly, for whatever reason, or for no reason at all.

An anger rises in Marvelous’s craw, anger that Basco would do that to his team; and anger at himself that he didn’t prevent it.

“So glad to see you,” Basco greets happily.  “I’m sure you’re as eager as I am to get started.  Oh, by the way, I’d suggest you tell your people not to try to interfere.”

“They won’t interfere,” Marvelous asserts resolutely.  “So, do whatever you want with me, and then let us go.  I won’t fight you.”

 “Marvelous, no!” Joe protests.  “We won’t let you!  _I_ won’t let you!”  Fury burns in his eyes.  “We’ll fight him!”

“No, you won’t!” Marvelous commands, and he’s never sounded more stern to his team.  “You’ll stay out of this.  I gave my word to Basco, and those are my orders to you.  _I’m_ captain of my ship, and until I’m dead, my orders stand.  As my first-mate and my crew, you _won’t_ countermand me as long as I’m alive.”

And Joe understands what isn’t said.

“But Marvelous-san…” Don whimpers a complaint.  Unlike Joe, Don has never been under military discipline.

Marvelous silences him with a callous stare.  “That’s – an – order!!  Obey it, or get off my ship!”

Then turning abruptly, ignoring Don’s shocked cowed expression, and with his crew summarily dismissed from his attention now, he shifts his glare to their captor.  “All right, Basco.  Do your worst, I don’t care.”

Basco smiles indulgently.  “Do you know what I’m going to do to you?”

“It doesn’t matter.  Just get it over with.”

“If that’s what you really want.”  Basco lifts a hand to Marvelous’s chin.  “Oh, but one other condition:  They have to watch.  If even one of them closes their eyes, or turns away, the deal’s off, and I’ll keep you all – And, oh, Sally, if they do disobey their captain and try to escape or attack… kill them.”

 _to be continued_...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvelous has to get his imprisoned crew back from Basco - no matter how dear and how cruel the cost to himself. 
> 
> With a little caress of the backs of his fingers against Marvelous’s cheek, Basco suggests, his voice warm and sensual, “You know, you really should respond willingly to me. It’ll be a lot better if you do.” Marvelous pulls his head back an inch. “That wasn’t part of the deal.” Basco grips his chin more firmly to force his head still, wisps another kiss against serious pretty lips. “Maybe not, but if you do, I might just go out of my way to make it enjoyable for you.”

Gently Basco places a tiny kiss at the corner of Marvelous’s lips.  Marvelous’s face tightens in irritation.  With a little caress of the backs of his fingers against Marvelous’s cheek, Basco suggests, his voice warm and sensual, “You know, you really should respond willingly to me.  It’ll be a lot better if you do.”

Marvelous pulls his head back an inch.  “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

Basco grips his chin more firmly to force his head still, wisps another kiss against serious pretty lips.  “Maybe not, but if you do, I might just go out of my way to make it enjoyable for you.”

Marvelous glowers.  “The only enjoyable thing will be seeing your ugly face for the last time.”

The hand touching his chin releases him in order to deliver a tiny stinging slap to a bare cheek.  “Come, no more naughty attitude, pretty thing,” Basco murmurs condescendingly.  “The game starts now.”

Then stepping around his prisoner, Basco eyes his prize possessively.  Marvelous just stands there, staring straight ahead as Basco strolls behind him.  He feels Basco’s fingers lift the hair at his coat collar, then card up the back of his head.  Joe’s touch in his hair he enjoys, but the obscenity of Basco’s touch races shudders through his nerves.

Abruptly the fingers clutch, jerking his head back an inch.  Marvelous winces as a hiss escapes his lips, the muscles of his neck tight, resisting the tension in his hair.  Then the fingers of Basco’s other hand slide to his throat, rest there with the mildest of threats.  Basco’s lips touch his ear.  The hand on his throat tightens ever so slightly.  Marvelous can’t help but reach up both hands to grip Basco’s wrist, yet he can’t allow himself to fight back.

As Basco presses up against him, he can feel the bulge of Basco’s crotch against his buttocks.  The sensation revolts him, but he can’t move away from it.

“You’re supposed to be receptive to my touch,” Basco purrs in his ear.  The fingers tighten a little more.  “Be pliant and willing.”  The pressure increases against his trachea.  His body stiffens.  Breathing hurts.

“Relax,” Basco instructs, even as he tightens his grip even further, and Marvelous starts to choke.  “Submit willingly to my touch, and I’ll relax my hold.”  Teeth nip his earlobe and he winces.  He’s nearly gagging now.  Basco’s voice teases him, taunts him. “Admit that you belong to me now, Marvy-chan.  That you’re nothing.  By the time we’re done here, I’m going to break that pride of yours, and you’re going to end up nothing more than a sniveling little whipped cur.  Think about how that’s going to feel, pretty little doll, to be broken in front of your people. What are they going to think of you then?”

“Basco…” Marvelous manages to grit out.

“Come now,” Basco coaxes in that gentle lilting tone, “Do what I say, or I’ll choke you right to the edge of consciousness and keep you there, so you can’t even get relief by passing out.”

Finally, with no other options, Marvelous wills his muscles to let loose.  He needs desperately to breathe.

Acquiescently Basco releases his grip, and Marvelous coughs and drags in deep gulps of air through his tortured throat.  Even so, his bruised larynx protests every breath.

Then resting his hands on Marvelous’s shoulders, Basco caresses his lips against Marvelous’s nape.  “Oh, there’s something else you should know, Marvy-chan, before we start.”

“What now?” Marvelous mutters, his patience nearly gone.  “You’re wasting time, Basco.”

Basco’s lips smile against the back of Marvelous’s head, and Marvelous can feel the man’s warm breath feathering his hair.  “Well, I think you might want to know this,” his captor suggests.  “By now you know I’m not human.  But did I ever tell you that I can keep going non-stop for as long as I want?”

Marvelous stiffens in Basco’s grasp, his eyes widen.  He hadn’t considered it.  Because Basco looked human when he wasn’t armored up into his true form, it was easy to assume that his bodily functions were human as well.

Basco smiles, feeling the body tighten in his clutches.  “I didn’t?  ah, I’m so forgetful!  You probably just assumed we’d just do it a few times, and then it would be over, didn’t you?  Oh, I know I let you think that when we used to fool around back then.  But if you thought that’s what it’s going to be now, you’re very mistaken, my pretty pet.  I’m going to take you over and over, and fill you so full of my cum until you can’t even hold it in anymore.  And I’m going to keep it up until I’m bored.  And that could take hours.  I do hope you’re… _up_ to it as well...”

Fighting himself to keep his anger in check, Marvelous snaps, “So, are there any more conditions you need to add, or anything else you’ve ‘forgotten’ to tell me about?  And anyway, when are you going to stop talking and start acting?  _I’m_ getting bored just listening to your mouth.”

Basco chuckles.  “Well, I’m glad to know you’re so eager for it.  For awhile I was worried you were just going doze through it all, and I would just end up entertaining myself alone.  Ah, Marvy-chan, I don’t think you even realize just how delightful you are.  And I’ll truly miss you when I finally have to end it all.”

From where he crouches on the grounds, Joe snaps, “You won’t be the one ending it, Basco!”

Glancing down in Joe’s direction, Basco smirks.  “Oh, you think not, Joe-chan?  You see, I’m already planning – I’ll turn you all over the Zangyack and claim that outrageous reward.  And then with all of you gone, the Galleon, Navi, and the Ranger Keys will all be mine for the taking, and then nothing will stand between me and the Greatest Treasure in the Universe.”

A snarl pulls Marvelous’s lips.  “So you did lie again – you have no intention of letting us go.  Well, that breaks the deal, you bastard.”  And whirling around, he swings out an arm to snap a hard backhand fist into Basco’s head.

But Basco is faster; and grabbing Marvelous’s wrist, he twists the arm sharply, then simultaneously kicking Marvelous’s foot out from under him, drops him heavily to the dirt. With a grunt, Marvelous hits the ground painfully, then Basco’s free hand swings brutally against the back of Marvelous’s head, slamming his face into the rocky grit.  Then gripping a fistful of hair from behind, Basco yanks his head back and pulls him up to his knees.  Bloody scrapes abrade Marvelous’s bruised face.  Basco’s other arm hugs him around the waist, and he can feel the man’s erection harder and heavier than before pushing against his backside.

“I didn’t lie.   _This_ time is for play,” Basco hisses close to his ear.  “But the next time I catch you all, it will be for real.  And after I enjoy pleasuring myself in each one of you, I’ll turn you over to the Zangyack alive, because I’m sure they have interesting plans of their own for you and your crew.  Of course, if you prefer, we can do it that way right now.  Or we can go back to our original deal, and take up where we just left off.  It’s your choice.”

Marvelous submits.  He has to.  There isn’t any other response.  “We’ll go back to our deal,” he surrenders grudgingly.

“Good,” Basco acknowledges.  “And not one bit more of back-talk, or I’ll punish you quite severely – no, I’ll punish _them_.  Shall I take a belt to your sweet tender Hakase?  Watching him writhe and scream should be quite entertaining, don’t you think?”

 A fearful noise breaks from Don’s throat, and chains clatter as Joe shifts defensively toward their blond teammate.

“No,” Marvelous counters sharply.  “You’ll get what you want from me, so leave my crew alone.”

“Fine, we understand each other then.”  And drawing the long red coat from Marvelous’s shoulders, Basco slides it down unresisting arms, then carelessly tosses it aside into the gravel. “Now, let’s get those clothes off, shall we?”

 

 

 _to be continued_...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm composure is fading from Marvelous’s face. The poisonous memories hurt now, and he can’t keep up the negligent façade. Despite his determination, a tiny black tendril of fear begins to uncoil in his gut. His pulse thumps, respirations increase. And he knows Basco sees it. Basco’s lips barely touch his face. “You know I want you to do it again. Just like before. I hope you haven’t forgotten how. And you’re going to do what I want, aren’t you? Don’t disappoint me, pretty boy.”

Stolidly setting himself, Marvelous unfastens his vest, then his shirt, and shrugs out of them; tosses the garments on top of the coat.  He shutters his mind, he will get through this, he will endure.  If he can’t, then it doesn’t matter if Basco breaks him or not, he won’t be worthy of his crew’s respect.  There’s no shame in crying or even surrendering to death – anyone can be broken in body if the pain or stress is bad enough – but to surrender mental determination is absolutely not acceptable or allowable.  And he will allow himself no quarter.

Then unfastening his belt buckle, he undoes the belt, then unzips his pants.

At that, Basco’s left arm slips around Marvelous’s bare chest, as his right hand reaches over, covering Marvelous’s, interrupting him momentarily from pushing the trousers down, then presumes to slip inside and cup his genitals.

A shiver skitters over Marvelous’s skin, teeth gritted, as his belly tightens in involuntary reaction to the presumptive intimacy.  Obviously it’s Basco’s test to prove Marvelous’s promise.  Needle-quivering sparks through his nerves, and his hand at his waistband tightly clutches the material of his pants to hold himself back.  But as much as he hates it, he does nothing to interfere with Basco’s touch.

“That’s very good, Marvy-chan.  I knew you could do it.”  Basco smiles against the side of his neck as the fingers graze over his organ, making Marvelous jerk.  “You used to crave my touch so much,” the privateer murmurs.  “Remember how I used to get you off just by barely touching your cock – just like this – remember?  I didn’t even have to pump you.”

Marvelous remembers.  To his shame he remembers.  And even now his traitorous organ betrays him as it begins to fill with blood and harden.

Basco feels the swelling too, and chuckles.  “Oh, yes, Marvy-chan.  Just like old times, isn’t it?  I knew you couldn’t resist me.  You never could.”  Sensually he drags a fingernail along just underneath the crown ridge, and just barely into the beginning of the slit.  Not into the slit yet – that will come later.  Marvelous knows that will come later.  And dread floods over him that he can’t hold off.  When Joe touches him there, it’s delicate and full of love.  Yet when Basco touches the most sensitive part of his body, it’s going to hurt, and hurt bad.  Although right now Basco is enjoying touching with faint gossamer teasings that, despite himself, nearly drive Marvelous out of his mind with stinging pleasure.  And he hates it.  A tight breath catches in his chest as bright tingles skitter spark-trails through every nerve.

Delicately the ball of the thumb wisps feather-light over the satiny tip, sending a spiderweb of scintillae up to his solar plexus and zagging out his limbs.  Reflexively his head jerks back against Basco’s shoulder, as a little whimper builds behind his teeth.  He fights it back as hard as he can – he refuses to give Basco the satisfaction of a helpless noise yet.  Although another couple of light traces over the sensitive flesh, and he loses the battle.  A tiny whine breaks from his lips; and as muscles fail, he pulls away from Basco’s touch and drops forward to elbows and knees in the grit, forehead nearly touching the ground.  The granite quarry dust stings in little cuts and raw spots abrading his skin.

Basco smiles in delight.  “Why, Marvy-chan, you’ve surpassed even my wildest hopes.  We haven’t even gotten your pants off yet, and already you’re on hands and knees begging for me to take your ass.  Be patient, my sweet, we have a long time ahead of us.”

In embarrassment, Marvelous buries his face between his forearms.  It will take more control to last if he can’t even trust his own body.  He feels Basco’s arms around him, then firm hands take his waistband as his clothes are pulled down his thighs.

A hand lightly slaps one bare buttock.  “C’mon, Marvy-chan, time for that later.  Get up now,” Basco coaxes

Stiffly Marvelous pushes himself up to his knees, ignoring the sharp gravel that digs into his flesh and slices into his skin.  What his body does is of no concern; whether it gives in to sexual need should be no different than if it breaks from pain.  He has to believe that.  If he can’t, he’ll be lost.

Someone in the group whimpers and starts crying.  It’s Ahim.  Of course – in her sheltered life in the castle, she has probably never even seen a naked man before, much less the sexual activity being forced on him now.  And the realization occurs to him that when this is all over, she might feel too embarrassed to stay with the crew, and might quit the Gôkaigers.  Marvelous has already lost AkaRed to Basco – he won’t allow the bastard to take Ahim as well.

Marvelous hears Luka try to comfort her.  “C’mon honey, keep your eyes open. It’s okay.  You’ve got to keep your eyes open.  Don’t give Basco any excuse to keep us.”

 “Basco,” he addresses his tormentor.  “You’ve made changes to our deal, I want to make a change.”

“Oh, what now?” Basco sighs.

“Don’t make Ahim watch.  She doesn’t want to see this.”

Basco shifts a quick gaze over to the Galleon crew and the girl in pink sobbing.  “Ah, yes,” he grins, “our pretty princess.  Oh, I know – looking at your naked body is _such_ torture…  Well, what will you give me in return, if I comply so generously with your request?”

“There’s nothing more to give you,” Marvelous retorts dryly.  “You know that.  I’ve already agreed to do everything you want.  She’s not who you want to hurt, so leave her be.”

“Very well.  The princess can keep her sensibilities,” Basco concedes casually, sliding a firm hand over the smooth cool skin of Marvelous’s bottom.  “Now, let’s finish undressing you, so you can be my precious little slut like you promised.”

Basco doesn’t try to remove his boots, but just pushes his pants down to his ankles.  Marvelous is fully aware that it effectively hobbles him, hampering him from either running or fighting.

“There,” Basco pronounces, rising to his feet while leaving Marvelous on his knees. “Now you’re ready for me.”  One careless swipe of a finger at the base of Marvelous’s tailbone and the beginning of cleavage jerks Marvelous’s body in a sharp twitch.  Basco grins as he steps around him.

 Then standing directly in front of his prisoner, Basco touches Marvelous’s face to lift his head.  “Now it’s my turn to get ready.  Pay attention, pretty thing.”

Marvelous expects Basco to get undressed as well.  Instead, Basco lifts the hem of his tunic, unlaces his leather trousers, but then without removing any clothing, pulls out his genitals.  Marvelous shoots a sharp glance up at him.  Basco is grinning that familiar smirk.  It’s the same domination game he played several times when they fooled around before:  getting Marvelous naked while he stayed clothed.  Marvelous didn’t like it then; he doesn’t like it now.

Casually Basco lightly strokes himself, holding the organ at Marvelous’s eye level.  “This used to be your favorite toy.  Have you missed playing with it?”

With the thing right in front of him, Marvelous frowns.  Even though it’s been several years, he considers that it looks bigger than he remembers it, bigger than even what a well-endowed human male would be proud of.  And if it’s like that while still partially limp, he knows it’s going to rip him when it’s fully erect.  But he keeps his face bland.  “Sure,” he lies, “but it looks different.”  He catches Basco’s gaze with a tiny challenge.  “Is this something else you forgot to tell me?  I don’t remember you being that… small.”

Basco laughs in delight.  “Well, then you won’t have any trouble taking it, will you?” he acknowledges.

With deliberate casualness, Marvelous shrugs and glances away.  “Yeah, sure – if I even feel it...  I may not even notice when you stick it up me.”

Lifting Marvelous’s head again, Basco places a tiny gentle kiss on his right cheek just below his eye.  “Well, I’ll do my best to make sure you do.  I’d hate to have you miss enjoying it to its… _fullest_ …”  He pulls back just a few inches, still keeping eye contact, strokes a finger over Marvelous’s cheeks and chin.  “But in the meantime, I’m sure you’d like to suck it, like you used to, wouldn’t you?  You were good then.  You could keep me up and hard for so long before I finally came in your mouth.  And you loved to have me watch you swallow it.  Then with my cream still on your tongue, you’d lick your lips just for me.  Oh, Marvy-chan, that always made me hotter than you could ever imagine.”

The calm composure is fading from Marvelous’s face.  The poisonous memories hurt now, and he can’t keep up the negligent façade.  Despite his determination, a tiny black tendril of fear begins to uncoil in his gut.  His pulse thumps, respirations increase.  And he knows Basco sees it.

Basco’s lips barely touch his face.  “And I want you to do it again.  Just like you did before.  I hope you haven’t forgotten how.  Because you’re going to do what I want, aren’t you?  Don’t disappoint me, pretty boy.”

A shiver rises up from Marvelous’s core; he fights it down.

And just in case Marvelous is wavering on his resolution to coöperate, Basco murmurs a casual warning up close.  “And don’t bother trying to bite it.  You won’t be able to hurt me, it’s a lot tougher than yours or some flimsy human piece.  But if you try, I’m going to shove it all the way down your throat.”  Then a quick careless smile replaces the threat.  “So play nice, and use those pretty lips for what they were made for – all right?”

 _to be continued_ …


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now, come on, get into the mood," Basco urges. "Maybe just close your eyes and pretend I’m Joe. That should make it very easy.” “You’re not Joe.” “No –" the privateer agrees, “I can guess that Joe doesn’t do the things I’m going to do to you."

Pulling Marvelous’s head up by the hair with one hand, he guides his organ to Marvelous’s lips with the other.  Pre-cum is already dribbling from the hole.  Basco rubs the tip against Marvelous’s tight lips.  The fluid moistens and glistens there, but Marvelous refuses to open up.

“Oh, you’re playing hard to get?” Basco murmurs.  “None of that now.  Lick your lips for me, then lick me.  It’s been three years since you tasted me.  Have you missed it?  Have you dreamed of it?  I’ve dreamed of you.  Dreamed of you flat on your back beneath me, your face spattered with my cum.  And you’re such a pretty sight like that.”

Marvelous is glowering, trembling faintly.

“Oh, what’s with that expression now?” Basco pouts.  “Come on, pretty thing, do like I say.”

Holding eye contact with his tormentor, resignedly Marvelous quickly licks his lips, then takes a quick swipe of the tip of the heavy wet organ.

“Now, that’s not good enough, and you know it,” Basco chides, releasing his organ momentarily to slap Marvelous across the face smartly even while gripping his hair tightly.  Marvelous winces against the stinging burn.  Then again Basco wipes the oozing tip over Marvelous’s lips, over his cheeks, over his chin.

“I’ll bet you suck Joe off every night, don’t you, my sweet?  And I’m sure you take the time to do a full thorough job of it with him.  I’m so jealous.  He gets what I used to get.  I’ll bet you pay full attention to lick every drop.”

“Keep your mouth off Joe,” Marvelous insists, quivering with the effort it takes to hold his tone mild in order to prevent any punishment of his crew.

And Basco takes no offense this time.  “It’s your mouth on me that I want,” he reminds.  “Now do it right, or I might get the idea that you’re reneging on our agreement.  At any rate, remember, you’re going to have to get me off over and over today, and the longer you take, the longer you and your crew will have to remain here.”

In response, Marvelous lunges for the organ, takes it full in his mouth and sucks hard.

But Basco just pulls out and slaps him across the face again.  “That doesn’t mean you rush,” he chided.  “Do it like you used to do it.  I can’t believe you’ve forgotten in just three years.”

Marvelous’s breath comes tight and hard.  Holding himself taut, once again he takes the dripping cock into his mouth.  Mechanically, methodically he sucks.  The warm moist aroma of Basco's groin invades his nostrils, the taste of the pre-sem coats his tongue.  He’s never forgotten that smell, that taste – a spicy cinnamon, slightly peppery scent so unique to the man.  It used to arouse Marvelous delightfully; now it almost makes him ill.

“Oh, Marvy-chan, Marvy-chan,” Basco croons, “when are you going to realize that until you act with as much enthusiasm as before, you won’t be allowed to leave?  You used to be so eager, and we had so much fun – don’t you remember?  What possibly could have happened to those good times?”

Glowering, Marvelous pulls away from the cock.  “Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you betrayed us to the Zangyack – you caused AkaRed’s death, and you shot me.”

Basco snuffs.  “Oh, that old man – he was getting rather problematic at the end – something had to be done about him.  And as far as shooting you…”  He takes hold of Marvelous’s right arm to examine the old puckered bullet scar over the flesh of the biceps.  “Oh, you see, it’s all healed up quite nicely.  But here – ”  He leans down to touch cool lips to the white splotch.  “There, I’ll kiss it and make it all better.  There now, what’s the problem?  Now, come on, get into the mood.  Maybe just close your eyes and pretend I’m Joe.  That should make it very easy.”

“You’re not Joe.”

“No – “ Basco agrees, “I can guess that Joe doesn’t do the things I’m going to do to you.  Well, anyway then, just think of it the way we used to do it.”

Acquiescently Marvelous gives in.  He remembers.  He can go through the motions once again.  Slowly, deliberately, never breaking eye contact, he runs his tongue sensually over his lips, taking his time and making a show of it.  He can do seductive, even if it’s fake.

And Basco knows it’s fake, but even so, his pupils dilate in warm arousal at the erotic sight and his cock pulses responsively.  In familiarity his fingers comb through Marvelous’s hair, then grip again tight enough to hurt.

Marvelous ignores the discomfort.  Next, he turns his attention to the darkened cock, runs his tongue over the slick tip, licks into the slit, then tongues the hole.  His motions are still forced, but they gain the desired result.

At that, Basco smiles in pleasure, head tipped back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Marvy-chan - I think I've tortured him enough for the time being. I'm stuck on this one for now, and I have more chapters all ready to post following this one. Later I'll go back and add more to this chapter... (hmm, why do I hear Marvelous screaming "no... please...!")


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basco strolls back to Marvelous curled on the ground, and squats down near his head. “Well, Marvy-chan, I’m afraid that’s it for now. I know you’d like more, but Joe-chan says it’s time to quit.” Weakly Marvelous shifts his head to look up at his tormentor through tear-wet lashes. His cheeks glisten with the moisture, and blood oozes from his bitten lips.

 “Now you see?” Basco murmurs sensually, close to his ear, “that wasn’t so difficult was it?”

Yet Marvelous is quivering so hard, his body rigid, nearly on the verge of screaming his lungs out in desperate frustration.

The torment just goes on and on.  Basco can keep it up with very little respite time, pounding and cumming, pounding and cumming, only taking little breaks in between to caress Marvelous intimately or knock him around.  After awhile Marvelous is exhausted and in pain, his ass is sore and raw.  He’s bent slightly, breath coming hard, arms crossed over his abdomen against the cramping discomfort.

And still it goes on.

Until finally Marvelous is reduced to tears, and he can’t stop sobbing.  He’s even beyond reacting to Basco’s taunts and actions any longer.

Joe calls, “Basco, that’s enough.  It’s over, let him go now!”

At that, Basco leaves Marvelous on the ground, and strolls over to Joe and the others.  With his clothes still undone, and his organ erect and glistening, it frightens Ahim, who trembles with a little whimper.  Immediately Luka hugs her and presses Ahim’s head to her breast comfortingly.  “It’s all right, sweetie, don’t look,” she urges quickly. “It’s okay.  Basco’s not going to do anything to us.”

With a little mocking smile, Basco glances over at the girls.  “She’s right,” he assures, “Unfortunately, that’s not the game I usually play.  So even if you ladies were hoping for it, I’m sorry, you’ll have to do without – this time.”

Luka glowers.  “I’m sure we’ll get over our disappointment.”  Ahim has her hands clamped over her ears.

“What, no obscenity?” Basco grins at her.  “No insult?  Are you losing your fire, my dear?  I’m disappointed.”

Luka glares.  “I don’t want to frighten Ahim any more than she is already, having to look at your ugly dick up close.”

Basco smiles.  “Well, I’m sorry, looking is all she’ll get to do.  Oh well.”

“Leave the girls alone,” Joe demands Basco’s attention.  “It’s me you came over here for.”

Basco shifts his interest to Joe, steps closer.  “So what do you think of your brave Captain Marvelous now, whimpering like a little whipped pup?”  His dribbling cock protrudes close to Joe’s face as a threat – as a promise. 

Pointedly Joe ignores it, he’s neither afraid of – nor impressed by – the thing.  And looking their tormentor right in the eye, he asserts solidly, “You don’t get it, bastard.  Marvelous will always be our captain, no matter what you do to him or to us.”

Basco smirks.  “Loyal to the end, hmm?  Then I guess it won’t matter one way or the other if I beat him down some more.”

Joe’s black eyes spark.  “He can’t possibly be any more fun for you now.  He’s so exhausted, he can’t even react to you any more.”

Basco rests a hand on Joe’s head.  “Well, maybe I’m not finished yet.  So, are you offering to take Marvy-chan’s place?”

 “If I have to, so you’ll leave him alone.”

“Well,” Basco considers, “we had our fun too, didn’t we, Joe-chan?  And I do like you almost as much as I like Marvy-chan.  You’re so very hot and tight inside, and you squirmed so well to give me a perfect ride.  But it’s a lot tougher to get you to beg.  I had to rip you up pretty hard to get any cries out of you at all.  Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end.  I suppose that’s it for now.  But I promise we’ll have another chance again very soon.”  And pulling Joe’s head up by the hair, while gripping his chin hard with the other hand – hard enough to dislocate his jaw with just a little twist if he chooses to – Basco kisses him full on the mouth, forcing a tongue between his lips to swipe along his clenched teeth, then carelessly shoves him away. 

Basco’s attention lights on Don.  Don is almost as frightened as Ahim, but he has someone to protect, and he absolutely will not allow Basco to hurt them.  Protectively he hugs Gai closer.  If Basco gets to Gai again, it will only be because he’s torn Don apart.

But Basco has no intention of any of that.  Instead he claps a friendly hand on Don’s shoulder.  Don flinches at the touch, but nevertheless shifts to position more of his body between Basco and Gai.

Basco smiles gently.  “Hakase.  I’m sorry we didn’t have a chance to get better acquainted, but I’ve been more occupied with your crewmates – I hope you don’t mind.”

“Umm, no,” Don answers in a quavering voice, “that’s fine.”

“Well, I promise next time I’ll make it up to you.”  He fingers the nape of Don’s neck and Don cringes desperately, frightened tears welling up.  Basco’s lips touch his ear.  “We’ll have to explore and find out where else you’re sensitive.  I’ll bet there’s a lot of places I can touch to get a… _rise_ out of you.”  Fingertips slide intimately just a few inches down inside the front of Don’s shirt, glossing down his sternum to find a nipple and tease it a little.  Abruptly Don jerks and writhes as though an electric shock tingles through his skin.

“Oh, you like this,” Basco notes with interest.

“No,” Don nearly sobs, trembling so badly that’s the only word he get out.

With a grin, Basco turns away.  Then refastening his clothes, he strolls back to Marvelous’s naked body curled on the ground, and squats down near his head.  “Well, Marvy-chan, I’m afraid that’s it for now.  I know you’d like more, but Joe-chan says it’s time to quit.”

Weakly Marvelous shifts his head to look up at his tormentor through tear-wet lashes. His cheeks glisten with the moisture, and blood oozes from his bitten lips.

Digging his fingers into the shaggy hair, Basco lifts Marvelous’s head, then leaning close, wipes his tongue over the salty tears, then licks the blood from swollen lips.  Marvelous can’t stop a helpless little growl from breaking from his throat.  Patronizingly Basco strokes his hair like a pet.  “My sweet pretty doll,” he murmurs condescendingly.  “Now do you see why I didn’t take you up on your first offer of willingly giving yourself to me forever?  You can hardly even put up with it for this little while.  Did you really think you could keep it up for the rest of your life?”  Then leaving him with one more kiss, Basco murmurs, “I hope you remember this for a long time… I know I will.  So… ‘til next time, Marvy-chan.”  And rising to his feet, he takes the careless trouble to kick Marvelous in the shoulder, tumbling him over.  With a weak cry, Marvelous curls up again, holding himself.  Basco pouts a moue.  “Oh, did I break my pretty doll?  Oh dear.”

“Basco!” Joe spits.

“Ah.”  Reaching into his pocket, Basco pulls out a key, then tosses it near Joe.  It lands out of reach, forcing Joe to squirm in his chains through the sharp gravel to retrieve it.  “I did say you could all leave now, didn’t I?  Silly me for almost forgetting my promise.”

* * * * *

He jerks awake screaming.  Again.  Where is he?  And where is Basco?  He has to run, has to escape…  But which way?  Any moment Basco’s hands will grab him again and force him face-down in the gravel again, and that hard heavy cock will tear him and plunder him again deep inside.  He fights back another scream trying to force its way up through his tight throat.  Basco is nearby waiting, watching.  But where?  He can’t see him.  Tears well, blurring his vision in the dark.  Desperately Marvelous clutches a crumpled fistful of blanket.

Blanket.  His bed.  He’s safe.  At home.  On the Galleon.  Basco’s not here.

Still it’s difficult to convince his pounding heart of that.  He needs comfort, needs assurance that everything really is all right.  He reaches out for the strong hand of his protector, his lover, beside him in bed.  Joe’s touch will reassure him, will calm him back to sleep.

His fingers find only bare sheets.  Joe’s side of the bed is empty.  Marvelous is alone with nothing but night-terrors and Basco’s pressing shadow to keep him company.

Curling up on his side, arms tight around his knees, he prays for the long night to end, while his sobs dampen the pillow.

* * * * *


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvelous is waiting in the main room when Joe comes down the stairs. Joe faces him, but waits for Marvelous to speak. Marvelous is direct. “I want to see my first mate in my quarters right now – and I want to know why he’s avoiding me. And I expect an answer.” His voice is tight, almost trembling. “I need my friend in bed with me – and he hasn’t been there. These nights have been hell! Without you, I’ve only got Basco for company and I… can’t get away… I’d rather die than have him… touch me like that again…"

Marvelous has been in a sedated haze for the past forty-eight hours, drifting in and out of consciousness.  Finally by the third evening after their capture, Marvelous clambers out of bed and limps up to the main deck of the ship to find somebody, anybody.  But especially Joe.

After they had first returned to the Galleon, they took Gai to the hospital.  Marvelous refused to go, even though they all tried to urge him.  But he insisted, he would only allow “that GoPink chick” to see him.

“Tatsumi Matsuri-san?  She’s a trauma nurse.  We’ll call her.  But you need to have a doctor look at you too.”

“Well, then that doc who fixed Ahim’s leg.  GaoRed.  Go get him.  Make him come here.”

“Shishi Kakeru-san is a veterinarian, not a people doctor.”

“I don’t care.  They’re both Rangers.  And Rangers are supposed to look out for other Rangers, aren’t they?”

Marvelous has spent the last few nights alone because Joe won’t come to bed.  He needs Joe now, desperately, but Joe has been spending every day away from the Galleon, and every night on watch.  In fact, except for the brief evening after their return from captivity, while Joe bathed him, dressed his wounds, and put him to bed, they’ve hardly spent any time at all together.

Late in the evening, Marvelous finds Don in his workroom re-wiring some equipment.  He asks, “Hakase, aren’t you scheduled for watch tonight?”

“Yes,” Don says, “but Joe-san told me to leave, he said he’d take the watch instead.  I tried to insist, because I’m worried, he’s not taking the rest he needs.  But he ordered me off.  I can’t sleep, so I thought I’d work some on my new design for the Gōkai Blasters.”

Marvelous sighs in frustration.  It’s almost like Joe has been deliberately avoiding him.

Don picks up on Marvelous’s feelings and suggests, “Maybe that’s just the way Joe-san is dealing with what happened to us – we all know he’s very private and doesn’t talk very much about personal things.”

“Well, he’d better start…” Marvelous interrupts himself, as though he doesn’t want to say anything too personal in front of Don.  Especially since his own privacy was so brutally violated just a very short time ago.  Instead he tells the engineer, “Take your watch as you were scheduled, and send Joe back to me – and if he refuses, tell him it’s captain’s orders.”

Marvelous is waiting in the main room when Joe comes down the stairs.  Joe faces him, but waits for Marvelous to speak.  Marvelous is direct.  “I want to see my first mate in my quarters right now – and I want to know why he’s avoiding me.  And I expect an answer.”

Acquiescently Joe leads the way down the few steps to the lower level of the ship where the living quarters are located, and down the corridor to the captain’s cabin.  Marvelous follows as if to make sure that Joe doesn’t veer off.  They enter the room, and Marvelous closes and locks the door behind them, either to keep other people out, or to keep Joe in.

Joe turns slightly, looks at his captain, his lover.

“All right,” Marvelous insists, “tell me what’s going on.  Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not… I don’t mean to…”  Joe’s voice hesitates; he glances down from Marvelous’s direct stare.

“Are you ashamed of me now because of what Basco did to me?” Marvelous questions.

The query startles Joe.  “Of course not!  Never…”

“Then why has your half of the bed been empty for the past three nights?”

“I’ve been taking watch.”

“I know that.  Three nights in a row.  That’s not the schedule.”

“We’re short-staffed – with Gai in the hospital…”

“Yes, Gai is in the hospital.  But no one else is missing.  Yet you not only took Gai’s watch two nights ago, but Luka said you took hers last night.  And tonight Hakase said you ordered him off-shift so you could take his as well.”

“Gai needs us.  And the crew needs their rest… after what we’ve been through…”

“And you need your rest – and I need mine.”  Marvelous's voice is tight, almost trembling.  “What I need is my friend in bed with me – and he hasn’t been there.”  His voice almost breaks.  “These nights have been hell!  Without you, I’ve only got Basco for company and I… can’t get away…  I’d rather die than have him… touch me like that again…”

At that, Joe reaches out a comforting hand.  “Marvelous…”

“What do you think I’ve been going through?” Marvelous demands abruptly.  “Why haven’t you been there?”

“I’m sorry.  I have been, but you’ve been sleeping every time I’ve checked on you,” Joe insists, his eyes moistening.

“You could’ve crawled into bed with me anyway.  I wasn’t unconscious all the time… or maybe I was, and the drugs were screwing with my mind…”  Anxiety clamps Marvelous’s chest, distress tightens his face.  He raises a hand to his forehead.  “I don’t know anymore… all I know is you weren’t there and Basco was…”

“I’m so sorry.  Marvelous.”  Impulsively, Joe reaches up both hands to Marvelous’s hair, tangles his fingers in the feathered strands, then leans forward to kiss his captain full on the lips.  Marvelous falls into the kiss, desperately moving his mouth this way and that over Joe’s lips, over his face, kissing and kissing, as though that one intimate act could expel all his demons at once.  Hands slide over clothed bodies.

Until finally Marvelous insists, “Get undressed.  Come on, hurry, I can’t wait any longer.”

But at that, unexpectedly, Joe suddenly stops and presses Marvelous at arms’ length.  In frustration, Marvelous wonders if he’s going to refuse.  Instead Joe turns away even as he begins to undo the buttons of his shirt.  Marvelous hesitates, watches, uncertain.

And then as Joe parts the front of the garment with both hands and starts to pull it off, he murmurs again for some curious reason, “I’m sorry.”  Then the material slips from his shoulders and drops to the floor.  And he stands there, arms at his sides, his back to his lover.

Marvelous gasps.  Long raw open gouges rake Joe’s bare back all over, every which-way, from shoulder to beneath the beltline, as though either he was whipped, or he lost a fight with a wildcat.  Some are partially scabbed, other still oozing a little blood or serous fluid.  They all look red and painful.

 And Marvelous knows.  A shudder races through him, as a tiny cry breaks from his throat.

And the dark rage billows up again unbidden, constricting his chest.  “Basco…” he mutters between clenched teeth.  The claustrophobia is closing in again.  Even in absentia, Basco can torment him.  Blood-red fury fills his vision, nearly blinding him to rational thought, with just a single focus – to kill, to tear apart his tormentor limb from limb with his bare hands.  He lunges, but something – someone blocks his way.  Someone holding his arms.  A growl rises from his core as he struggles to fight them off.

“Marvelous!” someone calls his name.  He struggles.   Again his name.  “Marvelous!”  He knows that voice.  The grip on his shoulders shakes him roughly.  “Captain, get ahold of yourself!  Marvelous!  Calm down!”

It’s Joe’s voice.  Joe.  His protector.  His partner.  His lover.

Slowly the rage fades.  His vision clears.  Joe is the one holding his arms.  Still he wants to kill, wants to squeeze his hands around Basco’s throat and let the bastard choke to death slowly.

Sparking onyx gaze impales him.  “This is what I didn’t want you to see!” Joe is saying straight to his face.  “This is why I’ve stayed away.  I didn’t want you hurt again.  I won’t let Basco hurt you ever again!”

Marvelous takes a deep breath to clear away the last wisps of the madness.  Gradually matter-of-fact common sense regains some semblance of control, and rational thought settles back down.  Still, his muscles are trembling.  His throat is desert-dry.  A hundred questions demand to be hurled at the man in front of him.  He asks only one:

“When were you planning on showing me?”

“And have you react like this?”  Joe shakes his head.  “Not until you made it an order for me to take my clothes off.”

Marvelous’s fists clench, pain moistening his eyes.  “What did he do to you?  ”

“Not nearly what he did to you.  He wanted to make me cry out.  He raked me with his fingernails while he...”  Joe’s voice breaks off.

“He raped you,” Marvelous finishes for him.

All Joe will answer is, “I survived, Marvelous.  You survived.  It’s over now – for both of us.  Don’t let him keep torturing you.”

The mindless murdering rage has finally dissipated, but if Basco were there right then, Marvelous knows he would kill him without any remorse.  “He hurt you.”

“He hurt Gai worse.”  Finally Joe admits in a low quiet voice, “Gai took that beating because of me.  He tried to fight Basco off me, and Basco nearly killed him for it.  And I couldn’t do anything to stop it.  It was my responsibility to protect him, and I failed.  You wonder where I’ve been every day – I’ve been at the hospital with Gai.  And I took Luka’s shift last night, so she and Hakase could spend the night at Gai’s bedside.”

“How is he?” Marvelous asks softly.

“They’re keeping him sedated.  That first night they weren’t even sure he was going to make it.”

Marvelous’s eyes close tightly in his own pain.    If it was Joe's responsibility to protect the crew in captivity, it was Marvelous's responsibility to prevent them from being kidnapped in the first place, and he had failed that duty utterly.  And now because of it, a man – a friend – lay near death.  Some guilt could never be absolved.

 “Is he...? ... going to make it?”

Joe nods.  “It looks like he will.  But… the doctors say he could have permanent disability… maybe brain damage… we don’t know yet.”

A film of moisture blurs Marvelous’s vision.  Gai – the one of them who would eagerly rush head-long and unarmed into battle against a whole army, get beaten down, then get up and jump right back in.  And kick Zangyack ass while he was at it.  Often Gai’s hyper-activity and constant bouncing off the walls got on Marvelous’s nerves.  Yet right now he’d give anything in the world to hear the familiar giddy incessant chatter.  The possibility of that lively bundle of energy being dead, or paralyzed or brain-damaged, that cheery voice being silenced forever, is unbearable.  He frowns in concern, trying to force back the darkness before it consumes him again.  But still all his mind shows him is their friend and teammate lying broken and unconscious in a hospital bed, hooked up with tubes and wires; and vengeance wells up cold and sharp.

Joe looks directly at him.  “Marvelous.  We’re going to have to find some solution to this.  So far Basco’s beaten us at every turn.  We can’t have that.  Now he’s said that he just let us go this time because he knows he can capture us again whenever he feels like it.  That’s not going to happen.  We can’t afford it.  _You_ can’t afford it.  This is not going to continue.  While I’ve been at the hospital these last few days, I’ve been doing lot of thinking.”  He pauses, before speaking out loud the solution he’s been contemplating.  But Marvelous says it first.

“We’re going to have to take the bastard out.”

 

_to be continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvelous shakes his head. Moisture wells up in dark eyes. “I just want to forget… just want to forget all about him…” His voice breaks.  
> Reaching up a hand to an abrased cheek, Joe turns his captain’s face toward him. “I’ll help you forget. I’m here now, and I’m not going to leave.” And he seals that promise with a long deep kiss.

Marvelous just tilts his head back to look up at the ceiling; breathes a taut sigh through thinned lips.  He’s been at odds with the betrayer of the Akaki Pirates for several years now, to no avail.  His glance shifts to his friend.  “You’ve seen how powerful Basco really is.”

“I know,” Joe agrees.

“More powerful than I first ever had any idea,” Marvelous admits.  “Once he armors up to his real form, we don’t stand a chance.”

“Well, obviously we can’t let him know we’re coming.  We’ll have to sneak up on him unawares while he’s still in human form, and take him down then.”

“Assassination.”  Marvelous puts a name to it.  That’s a line they haven’t crossed.  Up ‘til now they’ve always fought their enemies out in the open, face-to-face.

Joe shrugs.  “There isn’t any other way.  You know there isn’t.”

Marvelous’s eyes close.  He hesitates, certainly not out of concern for Basco, but because whoever goes will be risking everything just a hair’s-breadth from death – and they both know it has to be Joe.

“You’re putting yourself in danger.”

“We’re all in danger right now,” Joe reminds, turning to look out a porthole at the landscape below.  “And we won’t be out of danger until I put an end to it.”

Marvelous nods, unwillingly but acquiescently.  His gaze hovers over Joe’s wounded back again.  “Those gouges look really deep,” he notes.  “Have they been taken care of since we got home?”

“Yes, Matsuri-san cleaned them and put some salve on my back when she was here checking on you.  And since then, Luka and Ahim have been re-applying the salve twice a day.  I’m fine, I’ll probably have scars, but there’s no infection.  And don’t blame the girls for not telling you.  I made them promise not to say anything to you.”

Marvelous just shakes his head; the point is moot now.  “How is Ahim?” he inquires.  “I was afraid she might leave us, after what… Basco made her look at…”

“She’s fine.  It upset her, but she’s strong.  A lot stronger than we sometimes give her credit for, because we only see the sheltered princess.  Anyway, no one’s leaving.  We’re family.  Family doesn’t desert one another just because things have been rough.  Nothing changes that.  Nothing.”

Marvelous smiles faintly, as though a weight has been lifted.  “Thank you,” he admits.  “I know… but I needed to hear it… thanks, Joe.”

Carefully he touches the lean hard muscles of Joe’s bare shoulder, taking heed to avoid touching the open welts.  “I want to make love to you,” he mentions wistfully, “but I’m af…” He cuts himself off, hoping Joe didn’t hear the unspoken word.  Instead he amends, “But I guess we can’t, with both of us wounded.  I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could… get anything up right now, anyway… and I can’t take you in me… I don’t know when I’ll be able to again…  I just want to touch your skin now.  I just need to… I just…”

A tiny gentle glow lights Joe’s eyes. “I’m sure we can manage something.”  Then taking his lover’s shoulders, legs pressing against Marvelous’s thighs, Joe maneuvers them both to the edge of the bed and sits his captain down.  “Just as long as we leave the energetic stuff for later…”

“Later…” Marvelous echoes.  And lying back, legs hanging over the side, Marvelous slips his hands behind Joe’s neck to draw him down as well.  “I’m holding you to that, mister.”

Joe plants his hands on either side of Marvelous’s head, leans in for another kiss.  Then shifting his weight, he lies down beside Marvelous, propped up on one elbow.

But then concern tightens furrows between Marvelous’s brows.  “Joe, I don’t want to lose you.”

Joe smiles gently.  Fingers graze through strands of Marvelous’s hair.  “Well, I’m not planning on going anywhere.  At least not in the near future.”

Marvelous just shakes his head.  “Have you ever done anything like this before?”

“What – make love to my captain?” Joe teases quietly, sliding a hand over Marvelous’s shirt-front.  “At least a few times, give or take.”

“No.  The other.”

Joe doesn’t answer, but turns a little dark side-glance at his lover.  And Marvelous suddenly realizes there’s a whole lot about Joe’s past as a Zangyack special forces soldier, that he doesn’t know anything about.

Instead all Joe says is, “I’ll need to talk to Hakase about upgrading my weapons and my protection.  If Basco does armor up, I’ll have to have enough firepower to deal with it.”

“We don’t know the weaknesses in his armor,” Marvelous reminds.  “Even our Final Wave attack didn’t even scratch him.”

“I’ve paid attention when he’s in his true form,” Joe notes.  “I have some ideas.”

Of course.  As a commando, Joe’s power of observation would be trained beyond the norm.  A shift has come over his first-mate now, a look in the eye that Marvelous has never seen before, a conversion to black-ops mode.  And Marvelous begins to realize just what potential he has on his team – and in his bed – and he likes it. 

“What are you going to tell Hakase?” he inquires.

“Just as much as I have to.  He doesn’t need to know the place or the timing or the strategy.  Only you and I will know that.  And of course, the girls don’t even need to know anything at all, and neither does Gai.”

With a smile, Marvelous reaches over to Joe’s face.  “There’s a lot you’ve never told me about yourself.”

An enigmatic shadow ghosts briefly over Joe’s eyes.  “And a lot I never will.”  Then taking Marvelous’s hand from his cheek, he brings it to his lips.  “In the meantime, didn’t you just say you had some plans for tonight that you needed my assistance on?”

Marvelous’s smile brightens.  “As a matter of fact, I do have some strategy of my own that I’d like to run past you…”

“Well, I don’t see how…” – fingers undoing the hooks of Marvelous’s vest – “…you’re going to explain it all to me…” – then the shirt buttons – “… with all these clothes on...”  Then laying open the garments, he gazes at Marvelous’s bare chest, eyes tightening at the sight of tell-tale bruises and scratches and purple fingermarks, cruel remnants of Basco’s brutality.

Reaching for the remote switch on the bedside table, Joe lowers the lights in the room. “If you don’t want me to look…” he starts to offer.

But Marvelous lays a hand on his to interrupt him.  “No,” he insists.  “I want to you look.  I want you to see the marks he gave me, and I want you to heal them.  I want you to make them better.  I need you to…”

“All right,” Joe agrees quietly.  Carefully he brushes tender fingertips over the dark marks; kisses a large discoloration where the chest muscles join the shoulder muscles.

Then slipping a hand down to Marvelous’s belt buckle, he gazes up at Marvelous’s expression  to request permission.  “Can I go farther?  Are you all right with this?”

Marvelous’s breath catches briefly, but then he nods.

“Are you sure?” Joe urges, giving Marvelous every chance to back out.

“I’m sure,” Marvelous acknowledges, even as his voice quavers a little unsteadily.  “I want you to touch me.  I want you to take away what he did to me.”  A tiny humorless smile twists the corner of his lips.  “You know, after three days, I’m still shitting his slime out.  It’s still in me.  I can’t get rid of it all.”

“I know,” Joe sympathizes.  “You will.  It’ll take time.  Do you want to tell me about you and Basco now – what that was all about?”

“Do you really need to know?” Marvelous counters.

“No.”

“Then I don’t want to tell you.”

Joe nods acknowledgement.

A long silence lies between them, then finally Marvelous breathes a heavy sigh.  “Remember when we first made love, you asked how many lovers I’d had before, and I said zero.”

“I remember.”

“That was the truth.  I didn’t lie.”  Marvelous’s head rolls on the pillow as he looks over at his bed-mate.  “But you didn’t ask how many times I’d had sex before.  If you had, I would have said a thousand times.”

“With Basco."

Marvelous nods.

"But not as lovers?”

A shake of head.  “As friends – I thought.  But not even that.  He was using me… abusing me… even then.  Only I didn’t realize it.  I was being raped, day after day, only I was too stupid to know it.”

Sympathetic gaze rests on his captain.  “How could you have known?”  Joe urges gently.  “He was acting like a friend.  How could you have known otherwise?”

From his well of self-blame, Marvelous has no answer.

“Anyway,” Joe probes, “you’re not going to have any mixed feelings about this, are you?”

Eyes bright and sharp laser into Joe.  “Mixed feelings?!  I hate him more than anyone else in the entire universe.  More than any Zangyack who’s ever lived.  More than even the Zangyack emperor himself.  For what he’s done to me – to you, to the crew, to AkaRed… for all the hell he’s put us through, for all the threats he’s promised, I want him dead.  And that’s the only thing I feel.”

“Marvelous…”

Moisture wells up in dark eyes.  “I don't want him in my life anymore... I just want to forget… just want to forget all about him…”  Voice breaks.

Reaching up a hand to an abrased cheek, Joe turns his captain’s face toward him.  “I’ll help you forget.  I’m here now, and I’m not going to leave.”  And he seals that promise with a long deep kiss.

Willingly Marvelous opens his mouth, inviting his lover’s tongue in, and willingly Joe fills him.

 

 _to be continued_...


End file.
